Recreational divers who are paying for a dive guide or instructor

  • If divers are paying for training from a diving instructor or there is a dive guide employed then the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 will apply.
  • There should be a 'Diving Project Plan'. The instructor or guide should brief the divers on its content.
  • This plan should cover team size and the duties that some of the team will carry out. There should be a minimum of three people nominated in the plan:
    • the 'supervisor' (usually the instructor/guide)
    • a 'person on the surface' who can summon help if required
    • a diver nominated as the 'safety or rescue diver' qualified to render assistance to the supervisor if necessary. A novice diver will not usually be able to carry out this role
  • The pre-dive brief should cover the planned duration and the criteria for ending the dive and returning to the surface (usually time and/or cylinder pressure). The brief should also cover dive abort procedures, if the expected water conditions are not acceptable, and lost diver procedures.
  • The plan should detail the arrangements for the provision of first aid and oxygen administration.
  • The 'staff divers' should all have an in date HSE 'certificate of medical fitness to dive'.
  • Equipment servicing records should be available.
  • If using a dry suit, adequate confined water training should be completed before open water use.

Further information can be obtained from HSE's diving website[1].

Link URLs in this page

  1. HSE's diving websitehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/diving/index.htm
  2. The Medical Examination and Assessment of Divers (MA1)https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ma1.htm
  3. Offshore oil and gashttps://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/index.htm
  4. Pressure systemshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pressure-systems/index.htm
  5. Diving at Work Regulations 1997http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/2776/contents/made
  6. Association of Diving Contractorshttp://www.adc-uk.info/
  7. Scuba Industries Trade Associationhttp://www.sita.org.uk/
  8. UK Scientific Diving Supervisory Committeehttps://uk-sdsc.com/
  9. International Marine Contractors Associationhttp://www.imca-int.com/divisions/diving/

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Updated 2025-03-12